I am a native of Lima, Peru where I lived for eight years. Leaving the country put me in an interesting situation where I had lived there long enough to develop a strong vocabulary and fluent Spanish speaking skills, yet not long enough to full absorb the culture or learn to express myself well. My journey through my college education has been one to discover and reclaim the facets of the culture and language that I missed out on and, in turn, pass those on to my own students.
I realize now that I was lucky to be self-motivated to learn spanish, and that that is a teacher's main challenge: to motivate students to learn. I feel that all fields of education can and do have strong effects in every student's life and that they're all worthy of at least some study. As such, I recognize my job to be to show students why my field of work is important and how learning more about spanish can improve their lives.
This, of course, has to happen on a case by case basis, as each student is different and the way a language can increase their quality of life differs. But in general, foreign languages expand a student's mind. They give each student a new paradigm with which they can analyze their own native tongue and reinterpret their own language. A second language highlights the social aspects of their own language and forces students to think about how they express themselves, and why. Put simply, learning foreign languages creates worldly students. It expands each student's awareness of, not only their own life, but that there are other ways of living.
I am a native of Lima, Peru where I lived for eight years. Leaving the country put me in an interesting situation where I had lived there long enough to develop a strong vocabulary and fluent Spanish speaking skills, yet not long enough to full absorb the culture or learn to express myself well. My journey through my college education has been one to discover and reclaim the facets of the culture and language that I missed out on and, in turn, pass those on to my own students.
I realize now that I was lucky to be self-motivated to learn spanish, and that that is a teacher's main challenge: to motivate students to learn. I feel that all fields of education can and do have strong effects in every student's life and that they're all worthy of at least some study. As such, I recognize my job to be to show students why my field of work is important and how learning more about spanish can improve their lives.
This, of course, has to happen on a case by case basis, as each student is different and the way a language can increase their quality of life differs. But in general, foreign languages expand a student's mind. They give each student a new paradigm with which they can analyze their own native tongue and reinterpret their own language. A second language highlights the social aspects of their own language and forces students to think about how they express themselves, and why. Put simply, learning foreign languages creates worldly students. It expands each student's awareness of, not only their own life, but that there are other ways of living.
(Why you should hire me) - will add later